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Tag: infrastructure

Another step on the long march to improving construction

Another step on the long march to improving construction

For those who still follow the path that leads to greater collaboration within the construction industry, last night’s launch of the Pinsent Masons-Constructing Excellence report Infrastructure in the New Era provided a welcome shot in the arm. This report in many ways leads on from Andrew Wolstenholme’s report, Never Waste a Good Crisis. In his report Wolstenholme promotes the view (crudely stated by me) that you don’t build to build a building or piece of infrastructure, you build for a…

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Orders figures support view that there is cause for concern in construction

Orders figures support view that there is cause for concern in construction

The main message in the construction new orders figures released by ONS this morning is that the slope is downward and this is points to further falls in output in the future. And, to put them in context, against peak levels in cash terms orders for new construction work are down about a third. But more worryingly we don’t appear to be seeing the kind of acceleration in the private sector we would need to compensate for the losses faced in public…

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Some room for optimism to be found in the Experian forecast

Some room for optimism to be found in the Experian forecast

The latest Experian forecast on the face of it paints a picture of a rockier road for construction over the coming few years compared with its previous forecast. But on balance it is a slightly more optimistic picture of the path ahead for construction than is suggested by other forecast released recently. The impact of the economic stimulus on construction was perhaps stronger and more immediate than many might have expected and hence the withdrawal of the stimulus and the…

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New orders data point to coming dip in construction output

New orders data point to coming dip in construction output

The official figures for orders for new construction work in the third quarter of this year were not a particular surprise, but they do reveal starkly just how fragile prospects are for the industry. The graph below shows clearly the impact of the fiscal stimulus, which reversed the tailspin in orders. But now that public spending is in retreat we are seeing orders fall away at an accelerating rate. So in time we should expect to see the same for…

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Infrastructure is 40% bigger than we thought it was

Infrastructure is 40% bigger than we thought it was

Construction output grew in cash terms in July, despite the expectations of many analysts that the figures would start to show a dip in the month. And, by the way, the industry is actually 3.5% bigger than we thought it was a month ago, despite contractors making about £300 million less than we thought a month ago. That is one interpretation of the main points to be extracted from output figures released today. And if you think that is odd…

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Latest construction forecasts suggest there is more to fear than hope for

Latest construction forecasts suggest there is more to fear than hope for

The latest round of forecasting by construction experts paints a picture little changed from three months ago with little hope of significant growth, much uncertainty and the risks to growth heavily weighted on the down side. The general pattern they expect can be seen from the graph (right). It shows that after the biggest recorded annual fall since comparable records began in 1955 the forecasters expect a continued slide this year. There is some variation in views on this, with…

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Government housing strategy holed below the water line

Government housing strategy holed below the water line

As if Gordon Brown hasn’t enough on his plate at the moment, this morning he received a letter from the Home Builders Federation telling him that his housing policy doesn’t stack up. The letter sent by HBF Executive Chairman Stewart Baseley warns Mr Brown that he faces stark choices between the 240,000 a year housing target, aspirations for more affordable housing, private sector support for funding infrastructure, the zero-carbon target and a selection of other policy objectives such as lifetime…

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